Why have you decided to quit taking benzos?

Just curious, why have you, personally, decided to stop taking benzos? 

I hit tolerance and had to get off.

I was told I needed to stop in order for ECT to work.  When I researched how to stop I found out it could be causing the depression that caused me to consider ECT in the first place! 

 

(Great topic, BTW)

built up tolerance so fast ,then when i tried to take less and lower tolerance they did not work ,withdrawls were suicadal thinking plus alot of others then doctors were saying im an addict , bullshit never an addict to anything ,just could not deal with the level of pain from the withdrawls , and i have a very high tolerance for pain never thought about suicide in my life , if i was a doc i would never tell someone take this much a day i would say take as little as possible so tolerance does not build ,i will win this tapering battle its definately the toughest battle of my life 

After taking it for 4 yrs, didn't really know what it was. When I finally figured it out, was angry I was put on it in the first place. I have finished my taper and I am doing great. I have not taken any for 12 days. So far so good.

Because the benzos were causing me to undergo a long drawn out and very painful iatrogenically induced suicide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooh - great topic! 

I came to my senses when I was in London for a few weeks in March/April and had some kind of awakening to the fact that I was not what/where I wanted to be.  I was a slave to my need for the meds.  After 5 1/2 years and dose increases, I had been told by my doctor in the UK ( who is a very nice man that I see sometimes when I am there)  and over here that I was 'addicted' and needed to come off them, but I had managed to convince them that the drugs were helping me, and for 'right now' it was OK.  But right now was going on and on and the doses had increased and to be honest, they really weren't working very well, so I had taken to downing a bottle of wine a night to help them along.  When I was in London I think I was probably drinking more than that on occasions.  I metaphorically looked in the mirror and saw and overweight drug addicted, alcohol consuming, not terribly healthy individual. That was not who I wanted to be 'when I grew up'.  I was taking 1mg Ativan/Loraz every 8 hours, and drinking when I felt like it. 

 

The day after I arrived back in LA I got on the scale and was horrified.  That was mid April.  Now, early July I am down almost 20lbs.  I take .25 Loraz +1.25 valium in the morning; .25 Loraz in late afternoon and 4.5mg valium at night.  ( last two doses are cuts I did  in the last few days!) I am SO encouraged by the stories of healing and how the withdrawals are a sign of the brain re-wiring and healing, and hearing from others how and when their withdrawals have stopped.  Mine aren't too bad but when they rear their ugly heads ( and we know just how ugly they can be!) it's not exactly my favourite time.  Thought I was hitting a low point last Thursday but it seem to have passed.  Lots of changes - quitting drinking, losing weight, cutting the B's....  so yeah of course things are gonna get a little weird from time to time. 

 

But I wanted a future that was not dependent on convincing doctors to give me more meds every month. I wanted to be free of 'that feeling' when the drugs were leaving my system.    I didn't want my body to need anything that wasn't good for it.  I wanted my health to improve and my gosh it has!!  As has my state of mind. 

 

Thank you to the visionary folks who started this board/forum and those who continue to be a daily if not hourly support system, and the enterprising ways in which we are all learning to help each other. 

 

And for myself, I thank God for giving me the guts and determination to make the decision to pull myself out of this landslide and see it through. 

 

Bryn

I was taking 4.5mg Clonazepam as an anticonvulsant. I became tolerant (it no longer worked), so had to no real choice but quit. I did try tapering off, taking a break, and reinstating - to reset my GABA system - but it is was only partially successful. I went through this a few times before deciding to quit for good.

I had a few cold turkeys - each scared the crap out of me.  On the last one I realized it wasn't me, it was the pills. 

The benefits dissapated, and I began experiencing worse panic/anxiety while on the medication than it was before the medication. I beleive I had hit tolerance and did not want to have to keep increasing my dose to keep up.

 

I'm also tired of having the ball and chain tied to my brain. I'm tired of counting my pills to make sure I have enough before I leave and go on a trip.

I'm tired of being tired. I want to be healthy again.

The benefits dissapated, and I began experiencing worse panic/anxiety while on the medication than it was before the medication. I beleive I had hit tolerance and did not want to have to keep increasing my dose to keep up.

 

I'm also tired of having the ball and chain tied to my brain. I'm tired of counting my pills to make sure I have enough before I leave and go on a trip.

I'm tired of being tired. I want to be healthy again.

 

That is my exact reason too!

The benefits dissapated, and I began experiencing worse panic/anxiety while on the medication than it was before the medication. I beleive I had hit tolerance and did not want to have to keep increasing my dose to keep up.

 

I'm also tired of having the ball and chain tied to my brain. I'm tired of counting my pills to make sure I have enough before I leave and go on a trip.

I'm tired of being tired. I want to be healthy again.

 

That is my exact reason too!

 

Me too!   

 

I started having the worst anxiety I've ever had.

I finally realized one day "I don't remember it ever being this bad BEFORE the medication..."     

 

 

It has and is affecting my memory, my mood and my life, overall.  It no longer helps with the insomnia because my dosage needs to be increased which is evidently par with these drugs.  I refuse to increase the dosage (which my Dr. cannot understand)

 

 

I feel worse on them and I've lost a ton of weight, my memory, and half my personality.

If you would have told me a month ago that I would be tapering off of Klonopin, I never would have believed you. In fact, just the thought would have given me a panic attack. Then, last month, I was put in the hospital overnight for breathing problems. They ran tests and everything came back normal. I was down to 97 pounds and in a state of fearful anxiety. Soon after that, I started reading about Klonopin on the internet and knew in my heart that I was NOT suppose to be on it anymore; that it was working against me because I was tolerant to the 2mg that I was on. I read that withdrawals could be VERY difficult, but God gave me the courage and the strong desire to no longer be on Klonopin. I called my Psychiatrist to ask her how to taper off; was told .5mg every 10 days. Anyways, I knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but I also knew and still know that it is the Lord's Will for me to be off this drug. When my withdrawal symptoms get bad, I turn to the Lord and pray for His strength to get me thru it. It's wonderful to know that God is BIGGER than Klonopin (and any other benzo that any of the rest of you are on)!!

 

Lori

I was having daily panic attacks, at roughly the same time each day, which I now know was tolerance/withdrawal between my once daily dose.  I thought it was a symptom of my thyroid condition, so I went to my primary care physician.  She told me that she thought I was addicted to the benzo, and also was angry that she couldn't treat me for a lingering cough I'd also had because the medicine would have interacted with my benzo.  She wasn't at all sympathetic (she also was not the prescriber of the benzo - I was seeing a psych md for that), but it gave me the impetus to finally begin a serious effort to taper off the drug. 

 

No more panic attacks - which only began after I started taking the benzo.  I will also be seeing my primary doctor tomorrow and can't wait to tell her the news of my taper! 

I was having daily panic attacks, at roughly the same time each day, which I now know was tolerance/withdrawal between my once daily dose.  I thought it was a symptom of my thyroid condition, so I went to my primary care physician.  She told me that she thought I was addicted to the benzo, and also was angry that she couldn't treat me for a lingering cough I'd also had because the medicine would have interacted with my benzo.  She wasn't at all sympathetic (she also was not the prescriber of the benzo - I was seeing a psych md for that), but it gave me the impetus to finally begin a serious effort to taper off the drug. 

 

No more panic attacks - which only began after I started taking the benzo.  I will also be seeing my primary doctor tomorrow and can't wait to tell her the news of my taper!  

 

Bet it's the first time you have looked forward to going to the doctor's.    Be sure to come back and tell us how it went.

Especially since I'm now DONE!!!!    (I updated my signature - check it out!)

Oh my gosh! That means it's official. Time to start the celebration!  :balloon:

Yep, I'm feeling confident about it now. And feeling really grateful for all the help I get here. 

I started taking Clonazapam in 2004 due to postpartum depression and just stopped it, no problem, but kept on .5 to calm things down because I was a caffiene addict and taking heavy doses of prozac. I switched to effexor and was fine until I starting having too much stress and heart racing. I discovered high doses can cause bronchial constriction. I am a runner, didn't want that. I was tapered too fast and had a real problem, lost 14 pounds in two weeks - all the other symptoms too. I was put on zanax, then to clonopin because it was shorter acting. I was on lexapro as well and went to Greece - thought I was doing tons better and came back and all panic was gone, but was living on 3 mgs. Well a doc said I was bipolar - because I have a short attention span, I have a three year old ( at the time) attention isn't possible. I was on 9 drugs in three months and ended up in the hospital, but he said at least your down on the clonopin, why is this important - I thought. Then I started to read. I stopped most of the crap I was on because I woke so sick I went this stuff is going to kill me. Well drugs after drugs and sleeping most of the day for two years, hearing a friend tell me our first meeting she said that chicks on drugs, well I was. I reached a point where I said no more. I will do whatever it takes, I did not know the hell I was walking into. Heroin addicts are in awe of what we go through. Now I am struggling, but fighting, before I did not care about a thing I just wanted off. This journey will become a book someday, I promise you. I am putting the pieces of my life together and just, carefully, walked and ran a mile. This will push me to not think about my dreams, but achieve them. One little step at a time.

Just curious, why have you, personally, decided to stop taking benzos? 

Just never feel good. Been taking them for 5 years prescribed for anxiety/stress after a neck injury that incidently has never really healed.

Started with 1 mg daily for about 3-4 years then graduated up to 2 to 2-1/2 mg within the last year or so.

 

Now been trying to self detox and down to 3/8 to 1/2 mg daily, but driving me nuts, awful feelings. I reallydislike the feelings of coming down from them but I knew I couldn't come off completely at once because of the dangerous consequences. I really also hate being dependent on any type of drugs more than aspirin. That's about all I have taken in my lifetime.

 

However this is certainly no fun. Get terrible headaches, blurred vision along with high blood pressure which used to be normal. Abnormal body and joint pains and I just wonder is everyone that goes though the detox process has all of these symptoms along with so many more. The hot flashes are bad as well, one minute I'm cold the next, I'm sweating mostly on my forehead just don't understand why all these symptoms. I'm not taking very much at the moment and would love to stop altogether but kind of afraid now that I'm down to 3/8s to 1/2 mg daily and really fight my subconcious not to take more. Would love any input from anyone who experiences withdrawal symtoms and how you cope.

 

I don't really have any family support. My husband is sick all the time with diabetes & also amputee with only one leg and a third foot left on the other one so he's pretty much miserable in life altogether and can't talk with him as he's turned so very bitter in life and just blows up at every little thing and that sure does add extra stess to me though I just let him go at it. Does't do any good to try to talk to him in that state. Anyway would love anyones input. This is day 52 of my detox process and tapering off but still so hard and don't know how much longer it will be so miserable.

Hi lillmac

Glad you found this site. If you would like to post in the Planning your taper we can certainly help you with a plan. Kel

Hi lillmac

Glad you found this site. If you would like to post in the Planning your taper we can certainly help you with a plan. Kel

 

Thanks but going to stay on what I'm doing and hope it works, it been quite a while for me but have a ways to go I have a feeling.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=56.0

Hi. lillmac,

I understand, when you're able try to start a new post in planning your Taper .That way many people can always find you.

Someone more experienced in moving these things around can probally do it for you.

I'm sorry you having such a difficult time. Your husband must be having a hard time also. that is  certainly a exteme situation.

What are taking and how often do you take.

We can help you come up with a taper plan, if that is what you would like to do.

Please let us know how will can help you. Kel